Did Ender mean to break the other boy's arm? What does this incident tell us about Ender?Is it acceptable to do despicable things for survival? Why or why not?Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Ender did not mean to break the other boys arm. In the text, it states “He had only meant to catch the boys arm” (Card 33). Also, Ender thought “I am not a killer” (Card 34). This incident tells us that Ender is sympathetic and does not want to cause harm to the other boys intentionally. It is acceptable to do despicable things for survival because people just want to survive so you will do whatever you can in order to live no matter what it takes.

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Troop 9

10/31/2014 12:16:41 am

Ender did not mean to break Bernard’s arm, but he wanted to hurt Bernard. Ender wanted him to feel the pain he had caused him. “Ender felt sick he had only meant to catch the boy’s arm. No. No, he had meant to hurt him, and he had pulled with all his strength”(Card 33). This tells us that Ender is sometimes controlled by his anger. This tells us that Ender is more like Peter than he thinks. We b Ender thinks it is bad to do despicable things for survival, but he still hurts people of they hurt him. Like he said, Ender wanted Bernard to feel his pain, so he will leave him only. This is similar with the situation at school, when Ender seriously hurt the bully at school.

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Troop 5

10/31/2014 12:17:45 am

In the text it says,”Ender felt sick. He had only meant to catch the boy’s arm” (Card 33). This shows that Ender was not expecting to break the boys arm. He was only defending himself. This shows that Ender doesn’t want to be violent but if you mess with him he could hurt you. And if you push him too hard his instincts kick in and he will hurt you.We believe it is acceptable to do despicable things for survival, because humankind has been doing despicable things for survival for thousands of years. We have wiped out entire species of animals for our survival and we kill anything that stands in the way of human dominance.

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Troop 7

10/31/2014 12:17:59 am

Ender wanted to hurt the boy, but he didn’t realize that the gravity was no longer there. The text states, “Ender felt sick. He had only meant to catch the boys arm. No. No, he had meant to hurt him and had pulled with all his strength. He hadn’t meant it to be so public, but the boy was feeling exactly the pain Ender had meant him to feel” (Card 33). This shows that Ender meant to hurt the boy. He wanted him to feel pain, but he didn’t want to injure him as badly as he did. This tells us that Ender is more like Peter than he thought. It is acceptable because if you don’t do this, you would be the one beaten instead of them. “I am not Peter. No matter what he says, I wouldn’t. I’m not. I was defending myself,” (Card 34). Ender could either let himself get hurt, or protect himself.

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Troop 1

10/31/2014 12:18:24 am

No, he did not. The text states, “He had only meant to catch the boy’s arm” (Card 33). Ender did not mean to break the boy’s arm, but he did want to hurt him but not in that degree.
“I am Peter. I’m just like him” (Card 33). This tells the reader that Ender is willing to protect himself in situations and even hurt somebody if they are bullying him.
Yes, we believe that is is acceptable to do despicable things for survival to a degree. For example, defending yourself in order to prevent getting beat up it is okay. However, if you murder somebody because you need to in order to survive, that is not really acceptable.

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MU

10/31/2014 12:19:14 am

No, Ender did not mean to break the boy’s arm. “He had only meant to catch the boy’s arm. No. No, he hadn’t meant to hurt him, and had pulled with all his strength” (Card 33). This tells us that Ender had a temper and can snap when he is being teased or made fun of, but is also sympathetic when someone gets hurt. You could tell that Ender felt bad immediately after breaking Bernard’s arm. It is only acceptable to do despicable things when it is for self defense. If it is not self defense, it is for no reason and that is not right.

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Troop 6

10/31/2014 12:19:30 am

Chapter 4
Ender did not mean to break the other boy’s arm. The text states, “No, he had meant to hurt him, and pulled with all his strength. He hadn’t meant it to be so public, but the boy was feeling exactly the pain Ender had meant him to feel,” (Card 33). This shows that Ender wanted to hurt Bernard, but didn’t want to break his arm. He only meant to touch the boy’s arm, because Ender doesn’t want to be like Peter. This incident tells us that Ender is willing to stand up for himself and not get pushed around by other kids. In the text it says, “I am not a killer, Ender said to himself over and over. I am not Peter. No matter what Graff says, I’m not. I was defending myself,” (Card 34). It is acceptable to do despicable things for survival. This is because sometimes it can keep control. For example, in the text it states, “Just as the next blow was coming, Ender reached up with both hands, snatched the boy by the wrist, and then pulled down on the arm, hard” (Card 33). This shows that Ender was defending himself from being embarrassed and bullied. He was proving to the other boys that he would not accept that kind of behavior and shouldn’t be messed with.

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L.L.

10/31/2014 12:21:10 am

Ender did not mean to break Benard’s arm, because he was thinking about what would happen in gravity. “In gravity, the boy would have been jammed against Ender’s seat back, hurting his chest. In null gravity, however, he flipped over the seat completely, up toward the ceiling. Ender wasn’t expecting it. He hadn’t realized how null gravity magnified the effects of a child’s movement,” the text explains that Ender wanted to hurt the boy, though, he didn’t mean to break his arm. The incident explains that Ender felt he needed to show he is tough, so that the other boys could see what he’d do to them when they pick on them, so maybe they would all stop. He used the same tactic with Stilson. I think that it is acceptable to do despicable things for survival, in Ender’s case, because he needed to show the other boys who were messing with him what would happen. He didn’t want to be their target for the entire year he was at the Battle School.

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Troop 2

10/31/2014 12:21:46 am

No, Ender was not trying to break the other boy’s arm. The other boy had been hitting Ender on the head, and he was only trying to stop him from doing this. Ender forgot that there was no gravity and pulled a little too hard. This incident tells us that Ender does not want to purposely hurt others, even when they hurt him. In the text it stated, “Ender wasn’t expecting it. He hadn’t realized how null gravity magnified the effects of even a child’s movements” (Card 33). It is acceptable to do despicable things as long as you are protecting yourself or others. However, it is not okay to hurt someone for any other reason. The author wrote, “Ender felt sick. He had only meant to catch the boys arm. No. No, he had meant to hurt him, and he had pulled with all his strength” (Card 33). Ender was protecting himself, but he still felt bad about his actions.

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Troop 3

10/31/2014 12:27:35 am

At first Ender did not mean to hurt the boy, but then he realizes that he really did mean to. “He had only meant to catch the boys arm. No. No, he had meant to hurt him, and had pulled with all his strength” (Card 33). By doing this, Ender is showing that he has mixed feelings on hurting people who threaten him. We think that the farthest that you can go in terms of survival is self defense and that, along with annoyance and slight anger, was the reason Ender had pulled the boy’s arm. So, in some situations it is acceptable to do despicable things for survival, only if it’s out of self defense.

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MP

11/2/2014 07:21:49 am

No, Ender did not mean to break the boys arm. “He had only meant to catch the boys arm. No. No, he had meant to hurt him, and had pulled with all his strength” (Card 33).Although he didn’t mean to break his arm, Ender wanted to hurt the boy; he was mad and wanted to be left alone. This tells you that Ender can be a little unpredictable, even a bit ill-tempered. His actions are, seemingly, easily triggered. But, in a world where the setting is taking Ender into war, it is acceptable to do the despicable to survive. This is a trait that will further Ender’s development into fitting into Battle School and becoming a soldier, possibly even a commander.

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Troop 4

11/2/2014 10:47:47 pm

Ender did not mean to break Bernard’s arm, he was only trying to flip him. This shows us that Ender has more strength then he knew himself or lead others to believe either. “Ender felt sick. He had only meant to catch the boy’s arm.” (Card 33). Yes, it is acceptable to do despicable things to survive, but not when in a situation with a better solution, if someone takes your water and you are both in the middle of the dessert, its okay to take extreme measures, if you are trying to stand up for yourself in school, you don’t need to break someone’s arm.

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N.K.

11/12/2014 11:03:29 pm

At first, Ender believes he does not mean to hurt the other boy, but as he replayed the scene over in his mind, he realized that his anger had overwhelmed him and that he in fact, had wanted to hurt the other boy, but he didn’t want to go to extremes (breaking the other boy’s arm). “Ender felt sick. He had only meant to catch the boy’s arm. No. No, he had meant to hurt him, and pulled with all of his strength.” (Card 33) This tells us that Ender does not realize his own strength and that his anger may be overcoming him. He might be becoming more and more similar to his brother, Peter.
In means of survival, it is acceptable to do despicable things for defense. If you are being attacked, you have every right to defend yourself in any way possible. In this case, Ender was defending himself against the irritating boys, but went too far in his act of defense. In Ender’s mind, one can infer that he did want to hurt the boy, but not in the way that he actually did.